Abrasive cleaning of pipe



Sept. 4, 1962 R. D. FOSTER 3,052,066

ABRASIVE CLEANING OF PIPE Filed March 10, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. D. FOJZ GI INVENTOR.

BY ,QQ;

ATTORNEY P 4, 1962 R. D. FOSTER 3,052,066

ABRASIVE CLEANING OF PIPE Filed March 10, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z /6 /0 35 f 36 a 34 u WII. mm!

a; R i7. FoJzer mmvroa M y BY United States Patent Texas Filed Mar. 10, 1961, Ser. No. M334 6 Claims. (Cl. 51-9) This invention relates to equipment for cleaning internal surfaces of tubular goods such as joints of pipe up to forty inches in diameter and forty feet long which are to be coupled in end to end succession to make up a fluid conduit or pipe line. Pipes of this type are made from flat steel plates formed to circular section and welded along adjoining longitudinal edges. A clean and smooth interior surface free of mill scale and other dirt minimizes frictional resistance to fluid flow through a pipe line and in many instances a protective coating is applied to the interior surface, which must be precleaned to obtain good adherence of the coating.

An object of the present invention is to reduce handling awkwardness of heavy and large sections or joints of pipe to be cleaned in preparation for pipe line installation and to overcome difliculties presented by inaccessibility to the interior surface of long pipe.

A further object is to provide cleaning equipment for conveniently handling and standing a length of pipe upright or vertically on end and for running through the same a motor driven spinner wheel for imparting centrifugal force to throw abrading material in small particle form against the pipe interior surface for cutting through and knocking loose any mill scale, rust or other surface dirt accumulations, with the use of gravity to deliver cleaning particles downwardly from the upper open pipe end to the vertically moving centrifugal thrower and to cause particles and cleanings to drop out through the bottom open end of the upright pipe.

Another object of the invention is to suspend the traveling spinner unit from an overhead superstructure which also supports a storage hopper to feed abrading particles toward the spinner unit and to receive particles elevated by a traveling conveyor leading from a collecting hopper below the standing pipe whereby to provide circulation and a continuing rate of supply of abrading particles.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification of a preferred but not necessarily the only embodiment of the invention as seen in the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a complete assembly of pipe cleaning mechanism of a nature to be readily portable for setting up at temporary locations along a pipe line rightof-way as the work of installation proceeds; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 1 although the parts are not all in the identical positions of relative adjustment; FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the centrifugal thrower unit in a position above and outside the upper open end of a pipe and FIG. 4 is atransverse section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

For portability, there is shown in FIG. 1 a fragment of a road vehicle 1 at one end of which there is hinged on a transverse horizontal axis 2 a foldable tower or mast 3 shown in raised position and as including at its upper end a superstructure or carrier platform 4. The superstructure mounting includes a shaft 5 extending longitudinally of the length of the mast 3 and projecting through a bearing portion of the superstructure or carrier platform 4 for a controlled rocking or oscillation about the axis of the shaft 5. Mounted by the rockable platform 4- at the upper end of the mast 3 are a pair of spaced apart pulleys 66 over which is entrained an intermediate portion of a hoist cable 7 having one end connected to a suitable power driven cable winding drum or winch unit 8. The opposite cable end depends downwardly and is secured to the lowermost one of a number of telescopically interfitted tubes 9 which are slidabl-y keyed one to another to resist relative rotation. The uppermost tube of the telescopic group is fixedly secured within a mounting bracket 1d carried by the superstructure platform 4 and locates the group on a vertical axis for their slida-ble projection and retraction as controlled by the suspension cable 7 and power winch operation.

At the bottom end of the lower-most collapsible tube 9 there is supported an electric drive motor 11 having its drive shaft disposed vertically and projected downwardly for connection to the hub of a spinning rotor or particle throwing wheel 12 having a series of circularly spaced apart vertical vanes, as seen in FIG. 3. Operating current to the electric motor 11 is supplied by a suitable conductor cable leading centrally through the telescopically nested tubes 9 and during motor operation, torque reaction of the motor casing is resisted by its fixed connection with the slidably keyed together tubes 9. The motor is enclosed within a protective housing 13 including a downwardly tapered lower end portion 14 and an upwardly tapered end portion 15 joined to the lowermost tube 9 as a part thereof.

In intervals between cleaning operations, the several tubes will be suspended in collapsed relation and the spinner unit will be located inside a tubular cap assembly 16 having an outwardly flaring bottom end 17 adapted to seat over the upper open end of a pipe 18. Near the upper end of the cap member 16 are a series of internal lugs or stop abutments 19 for seating engagement with a downwardly tapered funnel 20 centrally secured at the base of the tapered connector portion 15 for co-operation therewith in affording a narrow annular valley in the region of convergence of the two tapered surfaces and which act as deflectors for particle material delivered downwardly thereto.

At the completion of a cycle of pipe cleaning operation, elevation of the cable '7 will bring the cleaning unit out of the upper end of the pipe and into the cap 16 until the tapered funnel 20 engages with the stops 19. Further cable elevation then lifts the cap 16 until the outwardly flaring bottom portion 17 rises above the upper end of the pipe 1'8. Following replacement of a new pipe to be cleaned, the suspension cable 7 can be payed out for lowering the cap 16 into engagement and alignment with the pipe, whereupon the cleaning unit will descend from its reception within the cap 16 and will travel on downwardly through the length of the pipe for performing the cleaning operation.

For centering the cleaning unit, the protective casing 13 carries a number of radial lugs for pivotally supporting outwardly swinging retractable lever arms 21 terminating in pipe engaging rollers 22 and being biased outwardly as by coil springs 23 interposed between each lever arm and the casing 13. To close the peripheral space beyond the rim of the deflector 20, a flexible annular flap 24 extends beyond the perimeter of the deflector Ztl and bears elastically outwardly against the interior surfaces of the cap 16 and pipe 18. A similar closure flap 25 is provided on a lower and downwardly tapered guide funnel 26 suitably bracketed to the casing 13 to extend in slightly spaced relation with the tapered surface of the lower end cap 14. For transfer of abrading particles from the bottom of the deflector 20 into the lower guide chute afforded between the tapered surfaces of the members 26 and 14, there are a series of circularly spaced apart tubes 27 shown in the drawing extending longitudinally beside the casing 13. It will be noted that the bottom discharge mouth of the tapered feed chute 26 extends into an annular space surrounding the hub of the wheel 12 and provided by the upwardly and outwardly inclined inner edges of the vertically disposed rotor vanes. More particularly, the bottom edge of the tapered chute 26, defining its central discharge opening, is disposed at an angle to the horizontal or is inclined to a transverse plane perpendicular to the wheel axis. Accordingly, particles flowing downwardly by gravity on the chute will leave the chute at various elevations around the circular opening and will fall into contact with the vertically disposed vanes at various distances across the vertical face of each vane. This provides a more uniform distribution of the particles and more effective action thereon by the vanes of the spinning rotor during motor operation.

The abrading particles therein, by centrifugal force outwardly from the spinning rotor 12 during downward travel of the spinner through a pipe to be cleaned, will strike the interior surface of the pipe with great force for dislodging foreign material and affording a clean metal surface. After striking and performing work on the surface of a vertically disposed pipe, the particles will drop by gravity and fall clear of the pipe through its bottom open end. The fall-out will be received within a collector hopper 28 having an inclined wall leading laterally to a bottom portion out of vertical alignment with pipe location. A series of buckets are carried by an endless and traveling conveyor loop 29 and dip into the collection hopper 23 for carrying the particle material upwardly to the top of the tower or mast 3. The conveyor loop runs around the bottom sprocket wheel 30 and an upper sprocket wheel whose shaft has a drive pulley 31 to be geared or belted to an electric drive motor 32. On negotiating the upper sprocket, the conveyor upends the carrier buckets and their load is dumped into a storage hopper 33 carried by the mast. From the storage hopper, the particle material, under control of a suitable gate valve, can be fed through a discharge spout 34 positioned immediately above the cup member 16. Under the controlled rate of discharge during the cleaning operation, the particles fall by gravity into the cap 16 and on through the open end of the pipe 18 for collection by the tapered deflectors and of the travelling unit and from which they are fed by the vertical pipes 27 into the chute 26 for centrifugal action on the particles by the spinner wheel 12.

For handling the pipe 18 and for holding it in upended relation beside the mast 3, it is proposed to provide a hinged frame 35 for swinging between upward and horizontal positions. The support for the hinged frame 35 is a base or subframe 36 and the two frames are pivotally joined together at adjacent ends by a transverse cross shaft 37. Suitable pipe clamping arms 33 are carried by the hinged frame 35 to clamp the pipe therebetween and a hydraulic jack 39 is joined at opposite ends to the respective frames 35 and 36. Collapse of the jack 39 swings the pipe holding frame 35 to a horizontal or prone position for unloading and reloading of pipe. After the loading of a pipe to be cleaned, the pipe held in the rack can be upended by extension of the jack 39 so that the pipe will be in an upright position for co-operation with the cleaning unit.

In the interest of time saving, it will be desirable to duplicate the pipe positioning mechanism just described or, in other words, to provide a set of two hydraulically actuated pipe holding frames arranged in side by side relation for alternate co-operation with the cleaning unit. This will mean that while one frame is holding a pipe in its vertical position adjacent the mast and the pipe is being cleaned, the other frame can be lowered for unloading and reloading of the pipe and for return to the upright position. Thereupon, upon completion of the cleaning operation on the previously erected pipe, the cleaning unit can be shiftedhorizontally into co-operation with the newly erected pipe. Shifting of the cleaning unit into operating alignment above either pipe is accommodated by the shiftl ing adjustment of the superstructure platform about its pivot mounting shaft 5 and between the two positions indicated by full lines and dotted lines respectively in FIG. 2. PEG. 2 also shows a pair of spaced apart outlet spouts 34 which will be provided with suitable gate valves and will be positioned so as to discharge directly into the tubular member 16 when aligned with the pipe in either of the two pipe locating frames.

From the above description, it will be seen that there has been provided a convenient and simple arrangement for the vertical travel of a cleaning unit through an upended pipe together with the gravity supply of abrading particles to a centrifugal thrower for the performance of the cleaning operation and the gravity fall-out of the particles from the pipe, together with a conveyor mechanism for returning the particles and recirculation to the system.

Although but one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be understood that the mechanism is capable of modification without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For cleaning the interior of a pipe or like tubular object whose opposite ends are open, mechanism including pipe engageable means to locate a pipe in an upright position for operation thereon, a supporting superstructure above the upper open end of an upright pipe located by said means, a working unit suspended by the superstructure for entry into said upper end of and for travel through the pipe and comprised of a spinner wheel adapted to act on and throw abrading particles radially outwardly of the wheel and a motor drive therefor and means on said unit to receive abrading particles fed downwardly from the superstructure and to direct the same into the central region of said spinner wheel, said last mentioned means having an outlet arranged to deliver abrading particles into said central region of the spinner wheel at vertical levels which differ at circularly spaced apart portions around the wheel axis.

2. For cleaning the interior of a pipe or like tubular object whose opposite ends are open, mechanism including pipe engageable means to locate a pipe in an upright position for operation thereon, a supporting superstructure above the upper open end of an upright pipe located by said means, a working unit suspended by the superstructure for entry into said upper end of and for travel through the pipe and comprised of a spinner wheel adapted to act on and throw abrading particles radially outwardly of the wheel and a motor drive therefor, and means on said unit to receive abrading particles fed downwardly from the superstructure and to direct the same into the central region of said spinner wheel, said last mentioned means comprising a funnel whose outlet surrounds the axis of the spinner wheel and extends within said central region and terminates in an edge inclined to the plane through which the wheel rotates.

3. For cleaning the interior of a pipe or like tubular object whose opposite ends are open, mechanism including pipe engageable means to located a pipe in an upright position for operation thereon, a supporting superstructure above the upper open end of an upright pipe located by said means, a working unit suspended by the superstructure for entry into said upper end o and for travel through the pipe and comprised of a spinner wheel adapted to act on and throw abrading particles radially outwardly of the wheel and a motor drive therefor, means on said unit to receive abrading particles fed downwardly from the superstructure and to direct the same into the central region of said spinner wheel, and means joining said unit and the superstructure and accommodating relative vertical travel of the unit while resisting rotative reaction from the spinner motor drive.

4-. For cleaning the interior of a pipe or like tubular object whose opposite ends are open, mechanism including pipe engageable means to locate a pipe in an upright position for operation thereon, a supporting superstructure above the upper open end of an upright pipe located by said means, a working unit suspended by the superstructure for entry into said upper end of and for travel through the pipe and comprised of a spinner wheel adapted to act on and throw abrading particles radially outwardly of the wheel and a motor drive therefore and means on said unit to receive abrading particles fed downwardly from the superstructure and to direct the same into the central region of said spinner wheel, said pipe engageable means comprising a pivoted frame swingable between an upright position and a prone position for the loading and unloading of horizontally disposed pipe, means hingedly mounting the frame on a horizontal axis adjacent the foot of the superstructure and a power driven lift connection with the pivoted frame for effecting swinging movement thereof between said prone and upright positions.

5. Pipe cleaning mechanism including a pipe holding frame, a pivotal mounting therefor accommodating adjustment of the frame from a prone loading position to an upright pipe working position, a collector hopper positioned to underlie the bottom of a pipe positioned upn'ght by said frame and to receive abrading material dropping through the pipe, a vehicle to be positioned beside said collector, -a folding mast fulcrumed on the vehicle for swing adjustment thereof from a lowered position to an elevated position adjoining the upright position of the frame, a storage hopper for abrading materials carried by the elevated mast above and for discharge into the upper end of a pipe located in upright position by the frame, a conveyor extending between said hoppers and operable to lift abrading material from the collector hopper to the storage hopper, a motor driven abrading material throwing wheel unit adjustably suspended by the mast for travel through a pipe, a motor torque reaction resisting connection joined to the mast and to said unit and accommodating the relative vertical swing travel of the unit, pipe bearing means carried by said unit for maintaining a centered relation thereof to the pipe and means on the unit to catch abrading material discharged from the storage hopper into the top of the pipe and to direct such abrading material into the central portion of the wheel unit for a centrifugal action thereby for propelling the abrading material outwardly against the surrounding pipe wall surface.

6. Mechanism for the internal cleaning of pipe including a set of pipe handling mechanisms, each separately operable on a pipe to hold the same in an upright position and in side by side relation with its adjoining mechanism, a superstructure above the upper ends of pipes located upright by said handling mechanisms, a rotary cleaning device vertically adjustably suspended by said superstructure for coaxial travel through pipes to be cleaned and means shiftably mounting said superstructure for its adjustment to present said cleaning device above and for coaxial travel within an upright pipe located by any pipe handling mechanism of the set.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,045,742 Pontani Nov. 26, 1912 1,522,159 Vollmer Jan. 6, 1925 2,188,716 Jacobovics Jan. 30, 1940 

